It Never Rains in February

Rusty had to go to the powerhouse early to shut off half of campus. The whole campus had power all night, but at about 7:00 the usage usually goes up and if the generator overloads then it shuts down. When Rusty got back he asked if I wanted to ride to town to try to find a new pump motor, we took off for town about 7:30. We picked up Mel, who had come in on the same plane with me and D'Linda. Mel is another of those remarkable people who seem to be all over the place around here. Mel is a farmer and engineer from Kansas, He comes out for a month about every other year. His brother Steve did the job Rusty is doing for 27 Years. Mel is here to prepare things for Steve and a team he is bringing to upgrade the electrical distribution system here. The team is due to arrive this week, Steve will be here Friday. Mel said that he is never here long enough to do any real good, but just to try and encourage the guys. I would argue that he does plenty of good. He is always working on something, he has already been a great help to Rusty in the week he has been here.

We headed for town and it was raining, then it really came down. Traffic slowed down and I learned a new African driving rule. We were on a nice 4 lane road, when our 2 lanes slow down we can take one of the lanes from the other side, Rusty didn't, but a lane full did. We went to a number of stores, dodging torrential rain, before we found a pump that Rusty and Mel thought would work. I have always been fairly ignorant when it comes to things electrical, they were talking about the difference between 50 htz and 60 htz. The motor was one and what they needed was another, but they couldn't find exactly what was needed. There is a public power system in Liberia, but it doesn't reach everywhere, and it doesn't seem to work much better than ELWA's, so there are lots of different systems all with different voltages and whatevers. The store we bought the pump in had just lost power because the transformer across the street had blown up. We went to the grocery store and got a donut and a pop, and I picked up a diet coke for D'Linda, You can't find them very many places around here. Regular coke is everywhere, But most of the people around here don't need any diet drinks. While at the store one of the managers who new Rusty told us "It never rains in February" as we watched a small river running down the street.

The goal was to have the generator back up and running by 10 or 11, at 12:30 it was started. In the interim the backup generator had some problems and had to be shut down, some filters changed and started up again, with only a slight improvement. We went home for lunch, but before it was over Rusty got word that the big generator had to be shut down, there was something wrong with the new pump. I might add that Mel paid for the pump $350. US, Rusty will turn in the receipt and eventually he will get reimbursed, I think. Rusty went back, but I stayed and did some work at the house. It had stopped raining, Rusty's rain gauge showed 2.14 inches of rain. I had gotten wet, but I enjoyed the rain.

Christopher helped me install some sofit plywood on the front porch. I have had grandchildren help me before, but when they get to almost 6' they can really help. We had been having a fly problem the last few days, Jamie said that that was not normal. While putting up the plywood we found a large dead lizard between the sheets. It was full of maggots and stunk, the boys thought it was cool. Colton wanted to keep it close by , but we made him take it away from the house. We came up a half sheet short, and broke a light fixture, but what we did looks better and should help in keeping the bats out of the attic. If Rusty can find half a sheet of plywood and some screen we can finish it.

Their house is adequate, Three bedrooms, indoor bathroom, living/dining room, kitchen and large laundry room. The kitchen has a small propane range, but a lot of the cooking is done on a small charcoal stove in the backyard, a refrigerator, a small microwave and a chest freezer that is shared with the Sacras next door. The kitchen sink has only cold water plumbed to it. There is a small hot water tank that is hooked to the shower, I don't know why they would need it, the cold water is not that cold. Rusty said that they didn't use it at first, but in the rainy season the water does get colder.

Rusty got home about 6:00, they finally came up with a fix for the generator, they hooked it up to the water system to cool it. When he got here there was a lady waiting to talk to him. She had just lost her 8 year old daughter to cancer, and didn't have enough money to pay for the burial. Rusty is in contact with many of the former missionaries and one of them had heard of her problem and asked Rusty if he could help her and they would send him the money. D'Linda overheard the conversation and was in tears at the thought of losing a child and not even being able to bury them. The woman was very thin and subdued. Rusty said it costs $50-$75 US to bury someone and there are other expenses, he gave her $120. and told her how sorry he was and that the other missionary was sending the money.

The stream of people coming to Rusty for help never stops. Most of them are looking to get help for them selves or family for school expenses. There are some free schools, but not many and even those you need to buy uniforms and books. Without some education it is impossible to get a job here. the official unemployment rate is 85%. That is misleading because many people do odd jobs or make and sell things for cash. You see kids with wheel barrows full of bread or cookies or water or coconuts, or girls with baskets of donuts or plantain chips on their head going around selling them. I can remember hating school, but no one hates it here.

Well it looks like my cool weather is over, the sun is coming up and I can't see a cloud in the sky, see you tomorrow.